In the hills near Ain al-Baida, the rebels tell Justin Vela why they are prepared to die to liberate their country
The Independent
Thursday 08 December 2011
"The sharp pop of gunfire draws little reaction. The soldiers of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) point to a multi-storey house just across the wide valley from their base above the village of Ain al-Baida, about a mile from the Turkish border. "That is where the military is," says commander Abo Mohammad, who wears a camouflage jacket over civilian clothes and cradles an AK-47.
Unlike many of the 150 fighters he claims are positioned in Ain al-Baida, Mr Mohammad has not defected from the Syrian army. Originally from a village not far from this complex of abandoned buildings that houses the FSA fighters, Mr Mohammad says he spent April and May organising peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
In June, when the Syrian military's infamous 4th Brigade came north, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, Mr Mohammad fled to Turkey, spending two months in a refugee camp near the border. But he grew tired of waiting, and returned to Syria to fight.
"People are dying in Syria," he said. "No one came to help us. I did not accept what is happening. I can't be patient, I prefer to die here."
He is one of a growing number of civilians leaving their homes and joining the military defectors who make up the bulk of the FSA, a symbol of both the powerful hatred many ordinary Syrians feel towards the Assad regime and of how far the country has slid towards civil war....."
The Independent
Thursday 08 December 2011
"The sharp pop of gunfire draws little reaction. The soldiers of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) point to a multi-storey house just across the wide valley from their base above the village of Ain al-Baida, about a mile from the Turkish border. "That is where the military is," says commander Abo Mohammad, who wears a camouflage jacket over civilian clothes and cradles an AK-47.
Unlike many of the 150 fighters he claims are positioned in Ain al-Baida, Mr Mohammad has not defected from the Syrian army. Originally from a village not far from this complex of abandoned buildings that houses the FSA fighters, Mr Mohammad says he spent April and May organising peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
In June, when the Syrian military's infamous 4th Brigade came north, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, Mr Mohammad fled to Turkey, spending two months in a refugee camp near the border. But he grew tired of waiting, and returned to Syria to fight.
"People are dying in Syria," he said. "No one came to help us. I did not accept what is happening. I can't be patient, I prefer to die here."
He is one of a growing number of civilians leaving their homes and joining the military defectors who make up the bulk of the FSA, a symbol of both the powerful hatred many ordinary Syrians feel towards the Assad regime and of how far the country has slid towards civil war....."
No comments:
Post a Comment